World Turtle Day: Wake-up Call from Delhi's wetlands
New Delhi: World Turtle Day on Friday serves as a reminder of the capital's conservation practices and the challenges faced by these creatures in a city where their natural habitats, such as wetlands, are degrading, rivers are polluted and urban expansion is rapid.
Illegal wildlife trafficking threatens this reptilian species, with many takers in the exotic pet trade. Last year in July, a joint operation by Delhi Police and People for Animals (PFA) seized 100 rare and live turtles from the bag of a man on a scooter. These included Indian roofed turtles, black-spotted pond turtles, Indian-eyed turtles and Indian softshell turtles.
"Most turtle species are endangered now because cities have lost wetlands and rivers.
Several species are sharply declining, some even wiped out by pollution, urbanisation and poaching," said Sipu Kumar, researcher at the Wildlife Institute of India.
Some efforts have been undertaken to create rare city spaces to provide the shelled species a safe abode and the good news is that they are even hatching. The rehabilitated wetlands in DDA's Yamuna Biodiversity Park, for example, have emerged as breeding sites for turtles, including the softshell species, with one documented sighting of a black pond turtle.
"Last year, during the monsoon, I recorded a couple of softshell turtle hatchlings on the nature trail at Kamla Nehru Ridge," said Faiyaz Khudsar, wildlife biologist and scientist in charge, Yamuna Biodiversity Park. "An Indian roof turtle was also recorded at the Kamla Nehru Ridge. There are reports of sightings of softshell turtles at Aravalli Biodiversity Park too." He said the Indian roofed turtle is considered vulnerable and the black pond turtle is listed as endangered in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red Data.
A shy species, turtles in India are protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, the highest level of protection provided to any species. Turtles are mostly aquatic and come on land for nesting or basking in the sun. The similar looking tortoises are land animals and do not swim. Terrapins are turtles that live on both land and water.
Wildlife biologist Sumit Dookia claimed spotting free-ranging turtles in Delhi twice in a decade.
"We saw a hatchling crossing a road near Kanganhedi village along the Najafgarh drain in 2016. We don't see them much because Delhi now has very small waterbodies," said Dookia.
Dookia said that the Sector 20 pond in Dwarka once had turtles. The waterbody is at the site where Bharat Vandana Park is being built. The site used to be home to several endangered species of flora and fauna, including the vulnerable Indian flapshell turtle.
Environmentalist Diwan Singh said that the 4-acre park had some turtles. "We revived the pond with DDA's help and last saw a turtle in 2019. We are no longer allowed to visit the pond, so don't know what happened to the turtle or the pond," said Singh.
Meanwhile, Delhi's only transit wildlife rescue camp for turtles is doing well at Asola Wildlife Sanctuary. Success in rehabilitating the species has been reported by the sanctuary and there are 19 turtles and one tortoise there at present. The turtles hunt fish by themselves.
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